Mauritania shares borders with Algeria (463 km), Morocco (1,561 km), Mali (2,237 km), and Senegal. These borders were drawn by French colonizers, which explains the straight lines, except for the Senegal River, which forms a natural border between Mauritania and Senegal. It is bordered to the west by the Atlantic Ocean.
Mauritania is divided into three main natural regions:
The Atlantic coastline, which stretches for about 800 km, from the border with Senegal in the south to Western Sahara in the north.
The central region, which is occupied by large, steep plateaus in the east and wide, sandy basins of the Sahara.
The Senegal River, which has carved a valley along the southern border of the country. One of its tributaries is the Karakoro (also known as Oued Lakhdar).
